Failure And Understanding
by Objective Mistress
Summary: Tenzin was wrong. She was a failure, and even more so than she had originally thought. But extreme pressure can bring out unseen elements and mold a person into what they are meant to be. Takes place directly after 1.08.


_AN: This will be a two-shot, so hang on for part two!_

**Rating: **T

**Word count: **1,189

**Summary: **Tenzin was wrong. She was a failure, and even more so than she had originally thought. But extreme pressure can bring out unseen elements and mold a person into Takes place directly after 1.08. Two-shot

**~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~**

She had failed.

Her vision unblurred from the hallucination, clearing to the silhouette of Tarrlok. She had always known the man intentions were less than favorable. But this? This is just plain insane. Unthinkable. But occurring nonetheless.

"Where are you taking me?"

"Somewhere will no one will find you," he had a hand on each door of the Satomobile. "Say goodbye to Republic City Avatar Korra. You'll never see it again."

With a shout she let loose a torrent of fire as the doors slammed shut and clicked to the locked position. She liked to think that the flames licked at the horrible council member's face before he managed to close her in.

"You can't do this! Let me out!"

Enraged, she struggled against her bonds. Rope bit into her tied arms and was tight enough to squeeze her at every gasping breath she took. Korra fought down panic, kicking and screaming in an ultimately vain effort to get free. The Satomoblie took a hard left turn; she slid on the floor only to come to a hard crash with the solid metal side of her mobile holding-pen.

The vehicle came to a sharp stop. They couldn't have possibly reached her final destination yet; it was too soon.

A hooded man opened the door, another moved to grab her. She breathed fire down upon them, singeing one, and effectively lighting the other ablaze. The small victory energized her, as she squirmed and made as much noise as possible.

Two more men joined in and grabbed her, one forcing a hand over her mouth. Korra bit down hard, catching one of his gloved fingers between her teeth; she was rewarded with a cry of pain.

But soon, three more men joined the fray, kicking and punching at her helpless form.

Tarrlok stepped out. "Move her to the other one," he motioned to a black, similar Satomobile. "You know where to take her."

"You won't get away with this," she snarled, pulling on a façade of strength and non-compliance despite the physical pain.

"I already have. Your friends aren't exactly in any position to keep an eye on you, and by the time anyone realizes you're gone, you'll be long out of their reach."

The men threw her into the second vehicle.

"So long Avatar," he grinned madly. "It was such a…_pleasure_, working with you."

"This isn't over!"

"Oh I think it is."

The doors closed; she could make out multiple locks closing to bar her in. The windows were blacked out, leaving her in darkness.

Getting back on to her knees, she moved herself to the back of the vehicle. Realigning herself on her back, she kicked both legs out powerfully at the junction of the two doors. The strength of the kick traveled painfully up her body, already sore from forced manipulative movement. She looked up hopefully. They didn't even budge. She wouldn't give up; she tried the same blow over and over. Finally, her body gave out, wilting to a tired mess, thrown around with the jagged movement of the Satomobile.

"Tenzin was wrong," Korra whispered to herself. "I am a failure."

How could she have possibly thought that going up against Tarrlok alone was a good idea? She was rash, and didn't think anything through. And look where that got her: defeated in the back of a Satomobile heading somewhere far away.

Tears welled up in her eyes and made hot tracks down her face. There was no escape, Tarrlok was right. He had won and she had lost, plain and simple.

She had done all she could, but now she had to face reality: she was in the back of a darkened truck, with no possible way to get out, or call or help. Staring at the blank walls would become her biggest occupation.

If Korra thought hard enough, and squeezed her eyes tight enough, she could almost imagine she was somewhere else. She could be in the gardens of Air Temple Island, with the gentle bay breeze of Republic City blowing her hair. She could even think that Mako was there, his stable grasp on her shoulders, anchoring and grounding her.

But that was too much of a stretch, and the imagined vision faded to the darkness of her cell.

Time seemed to lose meaning in captivity; Korra couldn't even remember how long she had been there.

Suddenly, the Satomobile's ride because increasingly less smooth. Clearly they had left the paved streets of Republic City.

"Goodbye," Korra whispered to the city where her life truly began. The city where she had made friends, found a purpose, and began to truly understand what it meant to be the Avatar. Her city.

Of course, she lost that all so quickly with her failure.

She gritted her teeth against the rising tide of emotions within her. She should have just listened to Tenzin when he asked for patience. Just another way she had fallen short.

She had failed to airbend, despite memorizing all the forms and her dedicated practice. She had failed to defeat Amon when they were face to face. She had failed to capture Mako's attention romantically. She failed to stop the Equalists when they attacked the Pro-Bending Arena. She failed to stop Sato and his mechanical fighters beneath the mansion. She had failed to connect spiritually as the Avatar.

But most of all, she had failed to see how she actually fit into the lattice-work that was the dynamics of Republic City. She was a commodity; a person who brought power to whomever she stood behind. The realization of this kept her from rejoining Tarrlok's task force. But she failed to see exactly how for the councilman would go for power.

"This would have never happened to any other Avatar," she whispered.

Korra seemed to be the lone failure of the bunch, muddling up the long line of powerful and wise Avatars.

A sharp tilt in the Satomobile broke her from her thoughts as she slid to the back of the vehicle. Surrendering to the senses she had, they were traveling up steep hills, and down valleys. Republic City was clearly long gone.

Would anyone even realize she was missing? Would the kids think she was just out for another evening walk with Naga? Would Tenzin look? And Naga? Would she be found? How would the damage she wrecked on the Council Building be painted?

Maybe she wasn't cut out to be the Avatar. Was a mistake made in bestowing her with the four elements (only three of which she could even use) and this title?

The helplessness in which she slid around in the back of the Satomobile was just like that of her actions of Avatar; she seemed to be at the mercy of the conditions around her, and unable to firmly establish herself in a grounded position.

Pethaps she had been doomed from the start.

Kora couldn't supress a shiver of fear. She had no idea what was waiting ahead of her.

The Satomobile came to an abupt stop and began to back up.

She sat up in anticipation.

The doors opened.

**~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~**

_AN: Bit of a cliffie as we head into the second and final part. Please leave a review! Let me know what you think. Resist the urge to lurk my friends!_

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